Hospitality has unfortunately been hit hard by the pandemic, but there have been many tenacious businesses in the sector that have been able to weather the storm. While restaurants have been some of the most severely impacted businesses, the pandemic does also offer them the chance to ‘innovate and find new, creative ways to serve customers’ if they’re able to leverage the opportunity to grow further.
One business that didn’t let the pandemic derail plans for a promising future was Brasserie Blanc – a premium casual restaurant with locations across the UK. The authentic French brasserie collection had established a reputation as the leading chain of restaurants by celebrity chef Raymond Blanc and recently celebrated its 25th birthday. Brasserie Blanc took proactive steps to ensure their strong recovery post-pandemic that included making the most of a business loan. Here’s how they took this funding and propelled themselves towards future growth by making informed decisions.
Nailing down their businesses’ needs
The first step in the journey towards a better future for your business is to understand where you want to be and what you’ll need to get yourself there. For Brasserie Blanc, this began in 2017 with goals of expanding their reach with ambitious growth plans that would see the creation of over 20 new sites and hundreds of jobs, so they took out their first loan with us to get started on. And years later in the midst of the pandemic, they were also able to recognise they needed help in the form of a bridging loan to continue their survival through lockdowns.
Identifying a lending partner that could support them
When you’ve got specific growth plans, you’ll need to work with a knowledgeable financing partner who can turn these goals into a reality. For their first loan to grow their existing portfolio, Brasserie Blanc looked for a lender that understands the hospitality experience, so that they could offer industry-specific knowledge alongside funding. Not only were we able to grant access to a loan quickly, we were well placed to support a budding restaurant like Brasserie Blanc due to our experience from funding many property focused hospitality businesses before. They came to us as an alternative to clearing banks who weren’t as generous in the amount they were willing to lend to growing businesses like theirs.
Similarly when Brasserie Blanc needed an additional loan during the pandemic, they returned to OakNorth because they knew we were able to offer funding quickly. We were able to provide a quick loan tailored to what they needed that resulted in them coming out of the pandemic stronger than going in.
Combining business knowhow with fast funding
Having access to funding quickly is essential for growth, but without the right business brains this may not materialize into actual success. Brasserie Blanc were able to build upon the funding they received with their experience of running successful premium casual dining experiences.
As a result, the brand and its wider parent company has growth on the mind, with its sister brand The White Brasserie Company continuing to develop and open its first new location post pandemic as the appetite for eating out returns.
–
If you’ve looked at your own business and decided that now is the right time for you to take on funding, check out how our business loans could help you.
